TransPanTastic: Transgender parenting, work, marriage, transition, and life!

George seems to have developed a twin. Or maybe he has recently become some other guy's twin. Either way, his colleagues at work have mistaken him for one of his colleagues more than once. This mistaken identity has made George examine and become more aware of his own masculinity as he "sizes up" other guys and reevaluates his self-perception.  We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our...

It's been said that "the only good dog stories are naughty dog stories". Unless there's a problem to solve, there's no story. The story isn't generally amusing while you're actually solving the problem, but the worst problems make for the best stories afterward. You can hear and download the entire (accidentally-simmish) theme song at  transpantastic.podbean.com/mf/web/ugf7y2/TPT-ThemeMusic.mp3 ....

George's mom has gone to visit his sister for the holidays, and we are thankful for the lessened obligation. Even so, the responsibility is never far away, no matter how long the plane ride took.  We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by going to  poll.pollcode.com/15998381  or by clicking the link at  TransPanTastic.net .  We ca...

Transitioning later in life has both advantages and drawbacks. After one and a half years of medical transition, and almost two years since deciding to do so, George and Jess reflect on life as it is and how it has changed. Waiting until middle-age has made the process easier by far than it would've been at a younger age, but George still would've done it long ago if he'd known how beneficial it w...

A few weeks back, you may have seen a link to a casting call on our social media. We thought about this project that MTV is considering, and decided we are not the ideal candidate family. Although many trans-parented families might have some similarities, the extents to which our unique differences present themselves are a little extreme even for us at times, and certainly doesn't need to be on ca...

Between parenting our kids and parenting George's mom, we finally exhausted our reserves of responsibility, so we ran away from home. It's a very good thing to be able to get away, even if George is still recovering from minor surgery and even if the responsibilities do try to follow us!  We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by...

At George's one-year checkup after his top surgery, the surgeon and he decided that there were a few spots that were less than ideal, so they scheduled revisions. George was ready for fixing the way his chest looked, but he wasn't ready for all the other things involved with that process!  We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by...

Lately all of our responsibilities have had us feeling a little overwhelmed, so we decided to let loose a little bit in hopes of relieving a little of that stress. We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by going to  poll.pollcode.com/15998381  or by clicking the link at  TransPanTastic.net .  We can be found online at  http://Tran...

Jess has mentioned before that she has become frustrated with managing small people at work. It's her job as a teacher to do so, but it has become increasingly clear that her talents and temperament are best suited to a secondary or post-secondary position. As she searches for a better job, the issue of how to discuss her family life and how to be a good queer role model for her students have been...

Child#2 has been participating in boy scouts for a few months now, and while Jess still has reservations about their history with the LGBT community, George has been all about getting him involved with positive opportunities for male socialization.  We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by going to  poll.pollcode.com/15998381  or...

Doctor visits can be stressful. George's semi-annual endocrinologist visit is coming up, and that means blood work, and between that and all the other visits he's been taking his mom or his rear-end to, he's developed a case of "White Coat Syndrome".  We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by going to  poll.pollcode.com/15998381  ...

A new school year for our kids means new meetings and conferences with teachers for us, and with their special needs it's always an experience. As our children adjust to the schedules and routines, we adjust to the behaviour struggles that often accompany such transitions. We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by going to  poll.p...

The adult voices in the old Peanuts cartoons were all played by a muted trombone. We often feel like when we're talking to our kids, they seem to hear that same "Wanh-wah, wa-wa-WANH-wa" sound, hearing that we are speaking but not really listening or being fully aware of what's being said. Of course, that sometimes happens with adults too, whether it's between ourselves or with the nice officials...

While George finishes up the issues regarding his rear end, and the various interactions with doctors that we began discussing a few weeks ago, he can't help but find himself disappointed in the way his body responds to surgery and invasive medical procedures. This can occasionally become a dysphoria trigger, as he deals with just how unattainable and impractical any lower surgery would be. We wou...

When situations and circumstances become too much to deal with, or when we find that we are not dealing well with our situation, one way to get help coping is in therapy. Many trans folk seek therapy as part of the "Standards Of Care", an old model for medical transition, but it's good for much more than that. We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you...

Sometimes things get misplaced. While we endeavour to find lost items promptly, it often happens that the hunt for missing objects is preempted by our busy lives. Back-to-school has made our lives busier than usual, so the to-do list has gotten completely shuffled and lost-and-found hasn't been a priority. We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you woul...

More questions have been asked, so more answers are being recorded for your enjoyment, enlightenment, or timepassment. From the term "PrincessMan" to our favorite fandoms, from pod-stats to voice lessons, from Maryland to Kazakhstan, we've covered the topics you've asked about in today's episode. We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please d...

Every once in a while, we have a problem that won't go away until we talk about it in a podcast episode. We've come to call this phenomenon "microphone magic". This time the problem is health-related, prompting a few visits to new doctors and the anxiety that can induce in trans folk. As discussed at about 11:50, we recorded the process of finding our doctor in episode #21 "Doctor, Doctor" (which...

From the moment a newborn emerges and the doctor takes note of their genitals, any child born into most western cultures is assigned a set of expections and cultural norms we refer to as "gender". It takes only a little experience to realize that the majority of these expectations are nonsense. We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do...

George's transition has made him clearly male in appearance, and this affects everything from his health to his social interactions. Jess is generally happy to support him in each situation, even when her own queerness gets lost in the shuffle. When hiking or exercising, when dealing with his mom, or when dealing with strangers in public, there are new experiences for both of us to explore. We wou...

There are four mammalian creatures in our house under four feet (~120cm) tall, two short hominids and two large canines. We have committed to be responsible for these living beings (and a tall homonid too), and this fact has given us both enjoyment and stress, both frustration and joy. We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by goi...

Transition is, by necessity and by definition, a self-centered act. To recreate one's physical self in the most psychologically congruous image possible, is intensely intrapersonal. But when life keeps happening all around us, between raising kids, caring for parents, tending pets, supporting family, paying bills, keeping house, it's easy to get lost in all the external details and forget that tra...

George's mom is old. As both her body and her brain have aged, she still seems, at least in our experience, to be fairly sharp. Why, then, do some of her doctors seem to think she has dementia? The answer might have to do with George's transition. We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous survey, if you would please do so by going to  poll.pollcode.com/15998381  or b...

Because, episode sixty-nine, what else could we do? Between dysphoria and having genitalia that didn't quite work right, learning how to sex was quite a process for George. So when his body started changing in response to testosterone, we started exploring the new things it could do and different ways that sex could happen. We would really appreciate, if you haven't taken our quick and anonymous s...

There are few benefits to working for the government. The pay is crummy and job security is tied to the budget which is sadly tied to politics. But one thing we have going for us is that we're protected by law. If they want to fire us for being transgender, they have to find another reason to put on the paperwork! Thankfully, neither George nor Jess work in a hostile environment, but the situation...